Tityus

The painting Tityus is based off of a story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The story leading up to the painting begins with Tityus, a giant, assaulting and raping the goddess Leto as she is traveling. Her son, Apollo intervenes and kills Tityus with arrows and a golden sword. Once sent the underworld, he is staked to the ground and vultures are set to feed on his liver eternally.

In this painting by Titian, a vulture is feeding from Tityus’s wound as its claws are digging into his body. Its wings seem to be in motion as to give it leverage over the giant. Vultures are considered to be rulers of death, as they feed off animals’ dead bodies. However, the vulture is not just feeding off of any place in the body. It is feeding off of the liver–the source of passion according to the Greeks. This is a contrapasso as Tityus is receiving a punishment that contrasts itself with the sin he committed on earth. Tityus’ head is mostly turned the opposite direction so the viewer cannot see the pain on his face. As he is tied down on all four limbs, he is utterly helpless.

The painting is one of four in a series that Titian painted for Mary of Hungary. The series entitled Furies warned people about what could happen to them if they fought back against the imperial powers, as this was commissioned during a time of confrontation with Protestant princes. The painting, along with the three others in the series, hung as a warning in the Alcazar Palace in Mardrid. From the series, only Tityus and one other painting Sisyphus (pictured below) survive today. They can be seen in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.

“Tityus, 1548 by Titian.” Titian, http://www.titian.org/tityus.jsp.

“Tityus.” Artble, 19 July 2017, http://www.artble.com/artists/jusepe_de_ribera/paintings/tityus.

“Tityus – The Collection.” Tityus – The Collection – Museo Nacional Del Prado, http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/tityus/68555098-f6fd-453f-ab0a-859385ce3b3a.

“TITYOS.” TITYUS (Tityos) – Phocian Giant of Greek Mythology, http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GiganteTityos.html.

“Turkey Vulture – Spirit Animal, Symbolism and Meaning.” Dreaming and Sleeping, dreamingandsleeping.com/turkey-vulture-spirit-animal-symbolism-and-meaning/.